Thousands of people in the typhoon-prone central Philippines yesterday had their Christmas plans ruined after they were told to leave their homes as a severe tropical storm approaches.
Officials on Christmas Eve said that residents should evacuate coastal areas, while thousands more were stranded at ports with ferry services shut down as the nation hunkered down for rain and strong winds.
Damaging gale to storm-force winds were forecast over the Asian nation’s Pacific coast in the afternoon ahead of Tropical Storm Phanfone’s projected landfall on Samar Island as early as 5pm, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Although much weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, the country’s deadliest cyclone on record, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.
All ships on the storm’s projected path through the central islands were ordered to stay in port, while local executives there told residents of the coasts, as well as flood and landslide-prone areas, to move to safety.
“Some families are reluctant to evacuate, because they want to celebrate Christmas at home, but local officials will force them out if they refuse to heed our warnings,” regional civil defense official Reyden Cabrigas told reporters.
Cabrigas, speaking by telephone from the central city of Tacloban, said that evacuations were under way there, as well as at nearby Samar, but added that he did not immediately have a total count.
“We are aiming for zero casualties,” Cabrigas said.
More than 21,000 ferry passengers trying to get home for the mainly Catholic nation’s Christmas holiday have been stranded at ports as shipping shut down, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
Local carriers also suspended dozens of domestic flights.
The weather service said that Phanfone, Laotian for “animal,” could strengthen into a typhoon overnight with sustained peak winds of more than 120kph.
It advised residents, including those in Manila, to stay indoors on Christmas Day to avoid the high winds that can cause damage to weaker structures.
The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt and the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, putting millions of people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty.
Strong winds and associated dangers like floods, landslides and, more rarely, giant walls of seawater pounding the coasts kill scores of people each year, wipe out farmers’ harvests and destroy infrastructure.
Homes built with flimsy materials, as well as populated areas along the coasts, floodplains and mountainous interiors, are often the most vulnerable.
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